Name: Eddie Machen
Date of birth: July 18, 1932
Date of death: August 8, 1972 at age 40
Career: 1955 to 1967
Record: 64 fights, 50 wins (29 by KO/TKO), 11 losses (3 by KO/TKO), 3 draws
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Position: Orthodox
Title: Pacific Northwest Champions
Major competitions
Score a win: Howard King, Nino Valdes (twice), Johnny Summerlin, Joey Maxim **(twice), Bob Baker, Tommy Jackson*, Willi Besmanoff, Pat McMurty, Alex Miteff, Alonzo Johnson (twice), Wayne Bethea, Mike DeJohn (twice), Brian London *, Doug Jones*, Roger Rischer, Jerry Quarry *
Lost: Ingemar Johansson**, Zora Folley*, Sonny Liston**, Harold Johnson**, Floyd Patterson**, Ernie Terrell**, Karl Mildenberger*, Manuel Ramos*, Joe Frazier**, Henry Clark, Boone Kirkman
Draw with: Zora Folley and Cleveland Williams*
**Past/future world champion title holder
* Unsuccessful challenger for a world championship title
The Eddie Machen Story
Machen was the fourth of six brothers. He played basketball and football in high school, and he and his younger brother Paul (Paul had an amateur boxing career and a brief professional career but was later arrested and imprisoned for second-degree murder) both tried their hand at boxing.
Machen’s uncle, Dave Mills, was a professional boxer. He started his career in the United States and lost to Sam Langford for the World Colored Heavyweight Title. Mills also spent some time in Chile, and he went 1-2 in three fights with Luis Firpo.
Mills began training and mentoring Machen, but they fell out and Machen decided to entrust his future to someone else. It was all in vain, as after just three amateur fights in 1952, Machen was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to three years in prison.
Upon his release, Machen resumed boxing and made his professional debut in March 1955. He went 11-0 in his first year with 10 wins by distance, six of which came in the first round, and he fought ten-round fights. That rapid rise continued in 1956 with eight more wins, including a points victory and then a win over world-ranked Nino Valdes, which earned Machen a world ranking after just 13 months as a professional.
In 1957, he defeated former light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim twice and defeated top heavyweight Bob Baker. In November, he defeated Tommy Jackson, who had lost to Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight title just four months earlier.
The logical next step for Machen, now number 1, was to get a title shot. Patterson’s manager Cus D’Amato controlled the title and, rather than give Machen a chance, he had Patterson defend the title, just a month after the Jackson fight, against Pete Rademacher, who had won an Olympic gold medal at the 1956 Games but had never fought professionally.
Patterson won, but there was still no indication that D’Amato would let Machen fight for the title. The undaunted Machen showed he was not afraid to take risks when he faced world number 2 Zora Foley in April 1958. Machen was 24-0 at the time, and Foley had won his last 18 fights. The fight ended in a draw, so Machen retained the number 1 ranking.
D’Amato has now squared off with Patterson against Texan Roy Harris, again leaving Machen on the hook. Machen took a big risk by agreeing to face the hard-hitting Swede Ingemar Johansson in Sweden. The 20-0 Johansson had beaten Europeans by knocking out Henry Cooper and stopping Joe Erskine, so Machen took precautions by including a payback clause in the contract.
In September 1956, before a record crowd for a boxing event in Sweden, Johansson knocked Machen down three times in the first round to win by choke. D’Amato next had Patterson defend Brian London in May 1959, although London had lost his last fight to Henry Cooper.
After the London fight, D’Amato began arranging for Patterson vs. Johannson. Machen went to court and spent $16,000 of his own money on the refund clause in his contract with Johansson and the court ruled in Machen’s favor but the ruling was overturned and Johansson knocked out Patterson in three rounds to win the championship.
To stay in shape, Machen won seven straight but lost to Foley by unanimous decision in January 1960. Machen had a reputation as a cautious fighter, but he never shied away from anyone, and in September he faced Sonny Liston, the most feared boxer on the planet at the time.
Liston won his last 23 fights against Mike DeJohn, Cleveland Williams, Nino Valdes, Roy Harris and Zora Foley, all by stoppage. Machen taunted Liston throughout the fight but lost on points in the twelve rounds. He picked up the pieces and came back to face tough competition, defeating Mike DeJohn twice, Brian London, Doug Jones, Roger Rischer and Alonzo Johnson.
He also drew with Cleveland Williams and lost only to light heavyweight champion Harold Johnson. Machen finally had a fight with Floyd Patterson in July 1964, but Patterson was no longer champion. The fight was held in Sweden and in front of 40,000 Swedish fans, Machen lost on points.
His only chance to win the title came in March 1965 when he was defeated by Ernie Terrell in a fight for the vacant WBA title. Machen continued to face quality opposition, losing to Karl Mildenberger and Manuel Ramos but winning against the unbeaten Jerry Quarry. Machen’s career was nearing its end and he retired in May 1967 after losing to Joe Frazier, Henry Clark and Boone Kirkman.
There were troubling things happening outside the ring throughout Machen’s career. Despite being the number one rated contender, he had to work as a bouncer to make ends meet, and financial problems led to depression. He exhibited erratic behavior, and in 1963, a highway patrol officer spotted Machen sitting in his car.
He wrote a suicide note to his wife and had a gun in the passenger seat. He was taken to a psychiatric hospital and became violent, requiring seven staff to restrain him. He was given sedatives but after another violent outburst he was restrained and eventually given electroshock therapy before being released.
After his release in late 1963, he resumed his career. He filed for bankruptcy in 1967, listing $66,000 in debts and only $13,000 in assets. In a review of his previous mental problems, he was found again parked in the same area as the original incident with a gun, but instead of being taken to the hospital, he was charged with gun possession and fined and released.
In 1968, he was arrested after a bar fight and then for drunk driving. He threatened to kill the police who stopped him and attacked the police who arrested him. His wife divorced him and took his two children with her.
He was working as a porter on a train when a police officer discovered Machen’s body in the parking lot of the apartment where he lived and it was concluded that he had fallen or jumped from a third-floor window of the building.
